The punchline of the Dip book is that it’s not about quitting at all. It’s about mastery. Hal has a great blog about production thinking. He taught me the phrase Jidoka, which describes part of how Toyota creates mastery and high quality. I’ll quote something he sent me:
[Toyota calls] stop and fix the problem “jidoka”. It’s a process where people are asked to identify every instance where the situation doesn’t match the expectation. They do that by “pulling the cord” to activate an “andon” — a signal. There are three signals: green (all fine), yellow (come look at this), and red (I need help). Operators in the Georgetown, KY plant pull the cord up to 1000 times/day. But the line only fully stops about a handful of times each day.
May 17, 2007
The event in Philadelphia yesterday was a milestone for me. The crowd was amazing… energized, smart and focused. It was a speaker’s/author’s dream. Thanks to everyone who came and to helped make it happen. I’m delighted (but not surprised) that people are finding things in the Dip that I didn’t even realize were there. One more reason to write a short book.
The Chicago event is now officially sold out. There will be some tickets at the door, but not many. All details on the rest of the tour are here. Then I’m going to need a long, long nap.
“Claudio Giordano opened this highly lauded West Lincoln Road restaurant with one purpose in mind: to fuse his lifelong passion for fishing with reliability and quality, while making his new endeavor creative, affordable and friendly.”
No one was offended, nothing was left out, nobody got hurt.
A knife usually cuts through the clutter better than a spoon.
In the old days, authors wrote. Other people did the marketing, and that was all there was to it.
Now, of course, most blogs are one-person operations. Which means that successful blogs are often run by restless, outward-bound people in a hurry. And a lot of bloggers either have day jobs or passionate sidelines. I think that’s a good thing, even when they fail. It’s frustrating for me to hear, “stick to your blogging,” when people criticize a project created by a blogger–because it’s part of the blogging, part of the learning, part of what’s unfolding. I’d rather read a book that’s informed by the activities (not the reporting) of the writer, and I’d rather read a blog that’s based on the successes (and failures) of the blogger.
Which brings us to Hugh Macleod and his work for Microsoft. Some critics think he’s selling out. I don’t. I think he’s having a huge impact on an organization–from the outside–at the same time that he demonstrates how just about any large organization can rethink its role in the world. And he’s doing it in front of all of us, without a net.
Which brings us to Guy Kawasaki and his new project. I disliked this project from the very first moment I saw the beta. It’s unlikely that it will fail. It will almost certainly generate a lot of traffic and a huge ROI for Guy. For the rest of us, it demonstrates just how easy it is to start a web company today, and just how important it is to create one that makes the world better, not just noisier.
So, how to overcome those that have a reflex to say no?
One way is to flood the zone with people who are likely to say yes.
Unless you’re selling to just about everyone in the world, this is far easier than trying to persuade the nay sayers.
My school realizes this. They hold the spring concert the same night at the budget vote. 200 parents at a concert are only a few steps away from the voting booth in the gym. Starbucks realizes the same thing when they put their stores directly in the path of yuppies who like spending $4 for a cup of coffee. You don’t find many Starbucks at bus stations.
Instead of focusing on arguing with people who say no, it might be easier to get near the people who like to say yes.
May 16, 2007
If you bought The Dip from iTunes and are having trouble making it play on your iPod, please drop me a line. Put "iPod" in the subject line. Apple is working to fix a glitch, and I’ll email you when I’m alerted that it’s been fixed. If you’ve been thinking of buying the audio version with the intent of playing it on your iPod, please wait a bit. Thanks. And I apologize for the hassle.
[UPDATE: this has been fixed, I’m told! If you didn’t get a refund, please email Apple directly and insist. And judging from the mail I’ve gotten, it should be safe to try again. Thanks for your patience.]
They just announced the results from the vote on the school board budget in my little town.
As usual, several hundred people voted no. In fact, every year approximately the same number of people vote no. The budget passed, it almost always does, but the naysayers get their say.
Here’s the interesting part. Also on the ballot was a New York State grant. This would permit the town to use State money (a grant, not a loan) to improve a building. More than 200 people voted no. Even the most selfish person who analyzed this measure would see that there was no downside, selfish or otherwise, to the town. Yet hundreds voted no.
When no becomes a habit, it’s very hard to break.
May 15, 2007
This is a fantastic essay by Cory Doctorow. I wish it were three paragraphs longer, but it lays out a thoughtful analysis of the flame/idiot/troll phenomenon.
My take: you can’t (and shouldn’t) treat all customers the same. It’s not clear to me that you can always change the attitude of an angry person. But you can avoid bringing down everyone around them.
The Royal York Hotel, at one point (for a few weeks) was the tallest building in the entire British Empire.
It hardly needs an elevator, but for a while, it was the ‘best’. Best if we define best as standing out, at exceeding expectations along some axis, at being remarkable.
The thing about being the best is that someone else is always trying to top you.
Being a pretty good receptionist is easy. You’re basically a low-tech security guard in nice clothes. Sit at the desk and make sure that visitors don’t steal the furniture or go behind the magic door unescorted.
But what if you wanted to be a great receptionist?
I’d start with understanding that in addition to keeping unescorted guests away from the magic door, a receptionist can have a huge impact on the marketing of an organization. If someone is visiting your office, they’ve come for a reason. To sell something, to buy something, to interview or be interviewed. No matter what, there’s some sort of negotiation involved. If the receptionist can change the mindset of the guest, good things happen (or, if it goes poorly, bad things).
Think the job acceptance rate goes up if the first impression is a memorable one? Think the tax auditor might be a little more friendly if her greeting was cheerful?
So, a great receptionist starts by acting like Vice President, Reception. I’d argue for a small budget to be spent on a bowl of M&Ms or the occasional Heath Bar for a grumpy visitor. If you wanted to be really amazing, how about baking a batch of cookies every few days? I’d ask the entire organization for updates as to who is coming in each day… “Welcome Mr. Mitchell. How was your flight in from Tucson?”
Is there a TV in reception? Why not hook up some old Three Stooges DVDs?
Why do I need to ask where to find the men’s room? Perhaps you could have a little sign.
And in the downtime between visitors, what a great chance to surf the web for recent positive news about your company. You can print it out in a little binder that I can read while I’m waiting. Or consider the idea of creating a collage of local organizations your fellow employees have helped with their volunteer work.
One amazing receptionist I met specialized in giving sotto voce commentary on the person you were going to meet. She’d tell you inside dope that would make you feel prepared before you walked in. “Did you know that Don had a new grandchild enter the family last week? She’s adorable. Her name is Betty.”
In addition to greeting guests, internal marketing can be a focus as well. Every single employee who passes your desk on the way in can learn something about a fellow worker–if you’re willing to spend the time to do it, they’ll spend the time to read it.
Either that, or you could just work on being grumpy and barking, “name and ID please.”
